Old Man, Elder Apegos

"So these will be for you," Taldes said, passing over a little bag into Ciemnosc's right hand, which was finally lifted the moment that Ciemnosc saw Taldes take out a smallish bag from the left side from within his robe. Taking it, Ciemnosc's 'awareness' moved and tried probing into the also smallish bag, finding not really a way to interact with it.

“Unless one knows a lot about array formations, it is impossible to ‘open’ them unless you break them entirely. Of course, if you do, the things inside will be unprotected; and both the materials to make these things and form the arrays are way too expensive, No one would really want to break one. But our ‘tallest friend’ is very generous and, well, she cares for us a lot.”

“Oh, so this is for me…?” Glancing at the smallish bag and said, Taldes took out a small talisman from his pocket once more and passed it to Ciemnosc’s left handed fingers, then explained, in a low tone. “This is an Owner Recognition Brand. It is connected to this bag. You just have to either drop blood onto it or use your Spirit Sense to- ooo.”

Taldes was shut up speechless seeing Ciemnosc suddenly take out a few half-a-hand sized little stones that emanated strong and pure fluctuations of Power Energy, then taking a dozen Inferior grade Powerful Stones.

“Ahem,” Taldes cleared his throat after processing these images through his trying head, “The bags are ‘Covert Space’ bags. You can store another 7 within these. They are the best that you can get for not caring about stuff. Only someone of many higher Realms than yours can try peeking into an ordinary Cover Space bag, but if you know arrays and protect them adequately…”

“Well, that is all for me to help you with, ‘Little’ Ciemnosc.” Taldes gave Ciemnosc a little, teasing smile of a big brother, he then said with a little nod accompanying his words. “If you want to get rid of useless folk getting to- well, messing with you and your mental state, prove yourself in the arenas. It’s all those circular buildings, very large buildings, you saw before, perhaps.”

“Beat some people up. You don’t have to kill, but not killing will take time. You’ll know what I’m talking about once you go there. Any questions? We are not to meet casually, so do ask now or never, boy.” With a nice tone, Taldes advised Ciemnosc and was about to go back to his room when Ciemnosc nodded his head and then asked, his eyes darting to the right.

“Where is that old man…err, available? That can teach me things and so on.”

Taldes lifted his chin and nodded in understanding. Blinking his eyes, he faced Ciemnosc and tried to say it with the lowest volume possible. “When you go out tomorrow, early in the morning, take a bus that no one else is taking just 3 kilometers to the left when you go out of the enclave. It is only for tomorrow that you will be taken there and back here only once, so memorize it, alright?”

“Mn, thank you,” Ciemnosc said, tilting his head a bit to the right and barely moving his slightly pale lips. Taldes made another cordial smile and also nodded once more, turned around, and entered back into the room, leaving Ciemnosc to look blankly at the closed door and with his right hand holding his Cover Space bag. His first one.

‘Ah, shit.’ Ciemnosc got no fun to have tonight. The little rat from before had been sent to a slaughterhouse, and he could only return back to his room and think about life.

Creak thud.

Ciemnosc closed the door to his bedroom, and the moment it did, the lights of his room were turned on. Unlike before, there were lights in his bedroom. Compared to a certain little cave with only air being able to be considered the one and only luxury of the Arielende Sect’s inner disciples' livelihood in their dorms, their rooms also had a praying mat for each person of a decent size.

On the other side from where the beds were, 2 stools were available for the 2 people to live in it to either…sit or put their things there. And on the corner to the bottom right of the room, a very small desk was available for anyone’s use. It was pretty simple and somewhat shabby but many times better than even most rooms outside the sect’s territory over the mortal world.

Besides, luxury isn’t mandatory for a cultivator. The Outer Sect Disciple enclave’s ground was also fully made out of sand and dirt, it was a dull-orange color, and though it looked okay, it also made the rooms inside feel even more shabby.

Getting onto the bed on the left, which Ciemnosc was lying on earlier, he took a quick look at the new books he at least managed to snatch away and thought a bit. Taldes was a Phrenic Realm 7th stage cultivator, but he didn’t seem that strong, ‘that’ strong. It somehow gave Ciemnosc the feeling that he could punch him, and poor Taldes would be having an extra hole in his body. Even if he protected himself with some Power Energy under his skin flowing at rapid speeds.

But then, Ciemnosc looked down. He didn’t get to kill and wage his ‘wrath’ on another poor soul, still without crippling or killing of course. He looked at his own bulge which has accompanied him ever since he turned around 5 o so, and even before it was already a noticeably growing thing. He wondered if he was part of a Race he was still unaware of and had this huge ass dick born into his innocent body?

Taking the big bad boy out, Ciemnosc massaged it a little, innocently thinking to himself, ‘Should I do it?’

He tried here, tried there. Even tried copying what his precious beauties did before… but…

‘Agh! It doesn’t work, uh uh, it’s not the same. Too boring, sigh…’ Dispirited, Ciemnosc left the tremendous, big bad boy out as he always ‘slept’ naked and left the poor, unattended ‘little’ Ciemnosc hopeless, dangling on his right thigh but not warming it up somehow as it felt warm but was actually cold. His body was definitely not fully human, at the very least.

Ciemnosc looked at the book in front of the lower end of the bed on the ground once more before sitting up and bending over to pick them up. It was a strange sight for anyone, but for him, it was normal since years ago, but his pee pee was all softly resting on top of in-between his thighs, and when he bent, it even managed to touch his neck… Normal stuff of Ciemnosc.

Picking the books. He read through each of them, and just the titles of 3 of them made him directly stand up, pick almost all the old books from the Warmlord City and throw them away. Dick dangles from his crotch to the outside where whichever cursed soul may get to stupidly pick them up.

Once he was done with that, Ciemnosc sat back down and, with his pee pee being ‘eaten’ under his thighs, he placed a book on them and began reading.

The book had the title of ‘'Basic Understanding of the Spirit Sense', and it was also one that had several mentions of different vocations. Such as ‘alchemy’ which was truly new to Ciemnosc, and ‘forging’ which was a vocation he had already begun as well but not fully as he still didn’t know of the way to make tools and even more so for a cultivator’s use.

But it also had ‘array formation’ in it, which was what intrigued Ciemnosc the most right now. Some ‘Creature’ related stuff was in there too, as well as yet another quick guide through the 7 realms of cultivation where there was finally stuff to learn about.

If one could live up to 500 years as a Phrenic Realm cultivator, one could also begin using ‘skills’, which was further beyond merely using the flow of Power Energy inside one’s body to protect their organs, bones, and even veins from the attacks of the outside. It was pretty limited though, up to allow one to have their fists, feet, and bodies capable of moving through with a bit more of speed, agility, or resilience when becoming weak. They may or not vary depending on the Elements, method of cultivation, and or Arts that one uses.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The way to break through into the Phrenic Realm, officially to Ciemnosc’s knowledge, was when the Power Energy in one’s Psychogenic Dantian Link grows powerful enough; powerful enough to allow them to use these ‘skills’.

In the Spirit Gathering Realm, one can live for 800 years. And to break through into this realm, one simply needs to cultivate enough Power Energy and then take a chance to attack the boundary between the Phrenic Realm and the Spirit Gathering Realm. Though one can now send their Power Energy outside of their bodies, at last.

However, it was only possible for tools, natural resources, and some equipment that were all directly in touch. Basically, they could now transmit their Power Energy out to other sources, nothing more.

The tools had to be wielded at all times, and they shouldn’t have an overly extended body. As it is basically too little and frail - the ‘control’ that one could have with their Power Energy; though for Ciemnosc it was manipulation instead, and it was too easy to believe the contents of the book. In any case, it needed to not be overly extended because one’s Power Energy at such a level was still low, and it only began growing in the next Realm.

Natural resources, like Powerful Stones, herbs, and even Spirit Heart-Links among others can be used to drain them from their energy. But in the Spirit Gathering Realm, one is able to use them for more than that. Like alchemy, forging and making tools, as well as powering up certain devices, machines, instruments, and vehicles without the need for an array and even somewhat with accuracy.

And for equipment, they can be similar to tools, with most equipment being useless against a full head on attack between cultivators, and that was mostly useful to send one’s Power Energy to a part of their equipment to protect themselves better…or hurt others better.

The way to progress through this realm is to feed one’s Natal Spirit, just how they learned to cultivate for the first time, becoming a cultivator per se. One can now directly feed it their own Power Energy, very easily at that; though how much depends on each individual.

In the Conflagrate Realm, one’s lifespan increases to 1,150 years. To breakthrough into this realm, one basically needs to use their Psychogenic Dantian Link’s Power Energy to be fused with their blood, merging themselves into one altogether.

One can now send their Power Energy out of their bodies over long distances, not just out of their bodies, and that’s it. They can employ techniques of lethal, immediate damage that can vary from a fire ball, or ice cone to a hidden dagger flying through the air, mostly, and very difficult through dirt, sand, or water at the very surface of such.

Not only that, one also becomes capable of flying! If there is one thing that is the most marvelous and wonderful for all incapable of flying living beings was that of being able to fly, of course! It might be dorky, very slow, and very tiring. But one at least has more Power Energy in their ‘bank’ to make use of it, besides prolonged battles with others at the same level of power and defenses.

In the Obsidiafying Realm, one’s lifespan increased to 2,500 years. And the way to progress through this realm is to simply cultivate more Power Energy all the way until they reach the last stage and form a perfect circle of cultivation then in their 10th stage.

However, it is nowhere as simple for breaking through as it is for progressing through; for breaking through into the Obsidiafying Realm, one is to have every articulation, bone, bone marrow, flesh and organ of their body form part of their Psychogenic Dantian Link, becoming Sub-Links all over their bodies.

Ciemnosc then read a paragraph that left him feeling ‘ajar’, just in that very same way that one would intuitively want to close or fully open a door when leaving it like that. He couldn’t help but to look at the book’s cover and back-cover blurb to search for the author’s name.

The paragraph itself said: ‘Even though hundreds of thousands of years have passed by, hundreds of generations of even the oldest, ancient organizations had gone through endless warring and incompetence, this world has not been able to fully grow out of their old, self-destructive habits of life… The path towards progressing and discovering the next realm became a joke much sooner than it should’ve been. And they all instead chose to remain ‘this strong’ but to rule as much as they could, not even caring about ruling everything anymore. This nature of all races, this conquer, has been betrayed long ago.’.

‘Wang Hanato…’ Ciemnosc muttered mentally within his head. It was the most glorious and latest general of all time But that had already been gone since his story was from 5,000 years ago. His age back then should’ve been no more than a few hundred according to the other books he has read before, and that is far away from what an Obsidiafying Realm cultivator can live through.

‘Hmmm, what’s this… ooh! So it is indeed called Spirit Sense, huuuhh! Makes sense now!’ Ciemnosc thought ‘out loud’, his eyes growing larger as his face closed in on the book on his lap, the scent of his own body naturally being ignored though it was thick, as it has always been, not his fault to be such specimen with capabilities to easily attract any female; he is so innocent.

Now, reading through hundreds and hundreds of thin pages containing all about the author’s knowledge and experiences. Ciemnosc began gaining his own understanding of the thing, which he has been aware of since long ago.

One’s Spirit Sense is always easy to detect. It cannot be hidden the moment it is planned to be utilized and even more so when it is being used already. It can be detected by any person, not even needing to be of the same cultivation level in prowess or Spirit Sense basis and much less importantly the difference between their cultivation base, which are all Realms and stages different.

They can be tracked and trailed back to where the user was employing them, but no attacks can be made through them. Only the Power Energy is capable of being this powerful in the end. Despite all these hundreds of thousands of years, it is still impossible for one’s Spirit Sense to attack, but it is still foolishly attempted on.

‘Who the hells treats their Spirit Sense like that? So weird~!’ Ciemnosc commented, mentally of course, as he could even extend out, store, and extend out his Spirit Sense without even beauty beauty from back then noticing, and that was when he was still in the Link Consolidation Ream, let alone now that he has even gained much more vital under basic information and broke through.

He could confirm that, as he raped her with his Spirit Sense back then over and over again, and got to know the outline shape of her body, bare body at last. She was protecting herself, innately and in some way towards any Spirit Sense ‘attack’ he made at her purely beyond beautiful beauty’s body.

But now that such knowledge has been granted to this innocent boy Ciemnosc could now recognize that it might’ve been tools, and equipment of a grade he might not even know far above the so-called ‘Earth’ grade, and with an Art, method, or technique of sorts so he couldn’t genuinely rape her with his eyes, it was a tragic day for a defeated Ciemnosc who is more innocent than innocenter.

One’s Spirit Sense might ‘come out’ of their own body or mind at any moment of their life. And if not, then they will forever be a vulnerable cultivator who can only rely on their ‘mortal’ senses to escape any danger or incoming assault, assassination, and so on. For a cultivator, one’s Spirit Sense was a ‘so-called better sensorial’ organ than the five ‘mortal’ ones. But for Ciemnosc, those thoughts and wording were bullshit.

If it wasn’t because of his hearing, he might’ve not even been able to react to those Crimson Quick Rolling thingies that murder all life after being sent to rain down from the sky… He only managed not to react due to his silliness of the idea of the cultivation world that the Arielende Sect gave; a deathly silliness as it could be seen…

Spirit Sense grows with the cultivator, just as how one’s Power Energy storage increases, and becomes extremely large once at the Obsidiafying Realm. One’s Spirit Sense grows accordingly and without insane, high rates, following a systematic, balanced growth through Realms and allowing the cultivator themselves to learn better of their Spirit Sense with each passing stage.

This was not the case, oh - once more, with Ciemnosc, as he had his Spirit Sense grow from 20 meters to 80 meters from the Link Consolidation Realm 10th stage to the Phrenic Realm 1st stage. While, according to Wang Hanato, only a couple of people in the entire history of this little planet gained only 1 meter range of Spirit Sense around themselves at the Link Consolidation Realm, was Ciemnosc then motherfucking badass or not?

The Spirit Sense would then grow, with a maximum of those couple people in the entire world up to 5 meters large of Spirit Sense at the Phrenic Realm, 10 meters large of Spirit Sense at the Spirit Gathering Realm, 20 meters large of Spirit Sense in the Conflagrate Realm and 50 meters large of Spirit Sense in the Obsidiafying Realm.

This was from the true past records and even ongoing records of all cultivators who have forged their path to becoming an Obsidiafying Realm cultivator as only the best can ever hope to.

…